Lakewood city officials applied for a $200,000 federal grant to combat erosion. The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation is making the funds available to communities that sustained damage from Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

LAKEWOOD, Ohio – The city is asking the federal government
for a $200,000 grant to study ways of helping lakefront property owners battle
erosion.

Lakewood has about 138 privately-owned parcels of land along
Lake Erie.

"Many of these owners, I don't know what percentage, have
undertaken these investments already," Mayor Michael Summers said. "We really
need for all of them to eventually do it. It is inevitable that everyone is
going to have to do it."

If it receives the grant from the National Fish and Wildlife
Foundation, Lakewood would partner with the Ohio Department of Natural
Resources to study options for the types of projects that property owners could
most effectively undertake to protect their land from washing into the lake. It
would also look at how the city and state could best help property owners pay
for the erosion-control projects.

"That wave action is just very, very powerful," Summers
said. "It pounds. It is relentless."

Typical means of battling erosion include installing piers, breakwalls and cement
fixtures at the base of cliffs to absorb the impact of waves. However, building
those structures can be expensive.

"One of the challenges in Lakewood is stuff has to be
brought in by barge, but if multiple homes work together, it could reduce
costs," Summers said. "Also, the city could use its bonding capacity to allow
homeowners to spread out payments over years."

The grant would allow the city and ODNR to explore other
options. The ODNR would provide technical expertise.

The federal government wants the grant recipients to restore, enhance or create wetlands, beaches and other natural systems to better protect communities as well as fish and wildlife species and habitats from the impacts of future storms and naturally occurring events.

The city submitted the grant application under the federal
government's Hurricane Sandy Coastal Resiliency Competitive Grant Program. The
program makes grants available to communities, primarily along the East Coast,
that were impacted by the October 2012 hurricane. Ohio is among the states permitted
to apply for the grants, which are to help communities reduce risks from
coastal storms, sea level rise, flooding, erosion and associated threats. The
federal government is making available about $100 million in grant money. The
grants are designed to encourage private investment.

"We hope this grant will be a starting point," Summers said.
"But even if we don't get the grant, we feel this is a very important subject
for us to be engaged in."

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